Review by Booklist Review
In this peculiar collection of essays some sage and somber, others satirical and even silly a British general practitioner reflects on what it means to be a good doctor and depicts just how complex the art and practice of medicine can be. In one essay, Launer addresses end-of-life care, asserting that MDs are mostly not good about death and dying. Another offers an imaginary conversation between two prehistoric medicine men. Launer shares his own experience with illness, describing his bout with blood clots in the lungs. He criticizes England's National Health Service, bureaucracy, and defensive medicine. Noteworthy topics include breaking bad news, folk beliefs, sexual feelings about patients, close listening, language, kindness, and intuition. He counsels doctors, We succeed in our work by letting go of the habit of trying to fix everything, or fit it into categories, and instead by listening to people's stories, questioning these thoughtfully, and noticing how often things will right themselves with a little active help or even with none at all. Truly a precious prescription for his fellow physicians.--Miksanek, Tony Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Author Launer (Sex Versus Survival: The Life and Ideas of Sabina Spielrein) writes a mixed, scattered essay collection on the modern practice of medicine. His observations are drawn from his work as both a general practitioner and a medical educator and supervisor. Some of the essays are artful, while others will leave readers scratching their heads. There is no logical thread to this book's order or any overarching logic to the placement of the pieces. Decidedly British, the essays describe situations arising from the author's work in Britain's National Health Service. Launer can be lauded for several of these writings, but on the whole this book is simply mediocre. Readers seeking powerful reflections on medicine will find it expressed better in such works as Richard Seltzer's Letters to a Young Doctor or the output of author-physician Abraham Verghese. Verdict A mixed collection of essays on the practice of medicine in a British context, but more entries fall flat than soar.-Aaron Klink, Duke Univ., Durham, NC © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An assortment of clinical musings from the forefront of patient-centered medicine.Physician and medical educator Launer (Sex Versus Survival: The Life and Ideas of Sabina Spielrein, 2015) collects material from his columns that have appeared in two medical journals. Focused on the science of medicine and the delivery of patient care, the essays also share intimately personal insights about the author's life as a husband and father and his lifelong passions. Launer draws largely on the stories of his patients and how their suffering and discomfort requires that a compassionate physician act "as a whole person." The author directly addresses industry indifference and the lost art of listening and how exhibiting true interest in a patient's pain can make a difference. In several pieces, Launer confesses to experiencing this lack of empathy himself as a patiente.g., the time he, during a routine cardiac stress test, endured "a needless act of emotional abuse where kindness would have required little effort." The author's infuriating lifelong battle with eczema reveals a doctor at his most human and also offers some sound thought processes for readers coping with chronic conditions. Other pieces briefly discuss choices in health care, sexuality, and the dilemma of "career patients," and Launer also includes a time-demarcated essay on the contents of his workday, revealing the frantic, contract-centered corporate side of medicine. Most pieces are briefsome just a few pages in lengthbut each represents a facet of the medical world that the author has either learned from or experienced firsthand. As a professional open to change and perspective, Launer is able to channel these lessons back into his practice, hoping the result will prove compassionate and proactive for his patients and his practice.Humorous, poignant, provocative, and educational, the author's opinions and anecdotes offer fresh takes on the ever changing field of medicine and how small changes in patient care have the potential to inspire radical improvements in the industry at large. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
